Audible book Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible book with Whispersync for Voice. Add the Audible book for a reduced price of $7.49 when you buy the Kindle book.

The bold futurist and bestselling author explores the limitless potential of reverse-engineering the human brain

Ray Kurzweil is arguably today’s most influential—and often controversial—futurist. In How to Create a Mind, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization—reverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines.

Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the world’s problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness and envisions the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.

Certain to be one of the most widely discussed and debated science books of the year, How to Create a Mind is sure to take its place alongside Kurzweil’s previous classics which include Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Age of Spiritual Machines.

Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Editorial Reviews

As inventor, futurist, and noted author of several books on technology, Kurzweil has often pushed the boundaries of convention and stirred controversy with his visionary ideas. Guaranteed to trigger still more debate, his latest work expands on a theme first introduced in his best-seller, The Age of Intelligent Machines (1989); namely, a proposed project to reverse-engineer the human mind and use that information to build superintelligent computers to solve the world’s thorniest problems. Arguing against the prevailing notion that the brain is simply too complex to be replicated in machine form, either in hardware or software, Kurzweil points out how recent, groundbreaking scientific advances, from mapping the human genome to 3D molecular imaging, have resulted in exponential technological growth. On his way to demonstrating the inevitability of computer intelligence that outstrips its human creators, Kurzweil dissects such topics as the nature of consciousness and transcendent abilities like love and creativity, and seeks to rebut his potential critics. While his prose sometimes founders when analyzing abstract data, Kurzweil’s extrapolation of technology’s breathtaking potential remains provocative and inspiring. --Carl Hays

Review

“Kurzweil's vision of our super-enhanced future is completely sane and calmly reasoned, and his book should nicely smooth the path for the earth's robot overlords, who, it turns out, will be us.”—The New York Times

“This book is a breath of fresh air . . . . Kurzweil makes an argument for optimism.”—Laura Spinney, New Scientist

“A fascinating exercise in futurology.”—Kirkus Reviews

“It is rare to find a book that offers unique and inspiring content on every page. How to Create a Mind achieves that and more. Ray has a way of tackling seemingly overwhelming challenges with an army of reason, in the end convincing the reader that it is within our reach to create nonbiological intelligence that will soar past our own. This is a visionary work that is also accessible and entertaining.”—Rafael Reif, president, MIT

“Kurzweil’s new book on the mind is magnificent, timely, and solidly argued! His best so far!”—Marvin Minsky, MIT Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences; cofounder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab; widely regarded as “the father of artificial intelligence”

“If you ever wondered about how your mind works, read this book. Kurzweil’s insights reveal key secrets underlying human thought and our ability to recreate it. This is an eloquent and thought-provoking work.”—Dean Kamen, physicist; inventor of the first wearable insulin pump, the HomeChoice dialysis machine, and the IBOT mobility system; founder of FIRST; recipient of the National Medal of Technology

“One of the eminent AI pioneers, Ray Kurzweil, has created a new book to explain the true nature of intelligence, both biological and nonbiological. The book describes the human brain as a machine that can understand hierarchical concepts ranging from the form of a chair to the nature of humor. His important insights emphasize the key role of learning both in the brain and in AI. He provides a credible road map for achieving the goal of super-human intelligence, which will be necessary to solve the grand challenges of humanity.”—Raj Reddy, founding director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University; recipient of the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery

“Ray Kurzweil pioneered artificial intelligence systems that could read print in any type style, synthesize speech and music, and understand speech. These were the forerunners of the present revolution in machine learning that is creating intelligent computers that can beat humans in chess, win on Jeopardy!, and drive cars. His new book is a clear and compelling overview of the progress, especially in learning, that is enabling this revolution in the technologies of intelligence. It also offers important insights into a future in which we will begin solving what I believe is the greatest problem in science and technology today: the problem of how the brain works and of how it generates intelligence.”—Tomaso Poggio, Eugene McDermott Professor, MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; director, MIT Center for Biological and Computational Learning; former chair, MIT McGovern Institute for Brain Research; one of the most cited neuroscientists in the world

“This book is a Rosetta stone for the mystery of human thought. Even more remarkably, it is a blueprint for creating artificial consciousness that is as persuasive and emotional as our own. Kurzweil deals with the subject of consciousness better than anyone from Blackmore to Dennett. His persuasive thought experiment is of Einstein quality: It forces recognition of the truth.”—Martine Rothblatt, chairman and CEO, United Therapeutics; creator of Sirius XM Satellite Radio

“Kurzweil’s book is a shining example of his prodigious ability to synthesize ideas from disparate domains and explain them to readers in simple, elegant language. Just as Chanute’s Progress in Flying Machines ushered in the era of aviation over a century ago, this book is the harbinger of the coming revolution in artificial intelligence that will fulfill Kurzweil's own prophecies about it.”—Dileep George, AI scientist; pioneer of hierarchical models of the neocortex; cofounder of Numenta and Vicarious Systems

“Ray Kurzweil’s understanding of the brain and artificial intelligence will dramatically impact every aspect of our lives, every industry on Earth, and how we think about our future. If you care about any of these, read this book!”—Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO, X PRIZE; executive chairman, Singularity University; author of the New York Times bestseller Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed by Ray Kurzweil

"How to Create a Mind" is a very interesting book that presents the pattern recognition theory of mind (PRTM), which describes the basic algorithm of the neocortex (the region of the brain responsible for perception, memory, and critical thinking). It is the author's contention that the brain can be reverse engineered due to the power of its simplicity and such knowledge would allow us to create true artificial intelligence. The one and only, futurist, prize-winning scientist and author Ray Kurzweil takes the reader on a journey of the brain and the future of artificial intelligence. This enlightening 352-page book is composed of the following eleven chapters: 1. Thought Experiments on the World, 2. Thought Experiments on Thinking, 3. A Model of the Neocortex: The Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind, 4. The Biological Neocortex, 5. The Old Brain, 6. Transcendent Abilities, 7. The Biologically Inspired Digital Neocortex, 8. The Mind as Computer, 9. Thought Experiments on the Mind, 10. The Law of Accelerating Returns Applied to the Brain, and 11. Objections.

Positives:1. Well researched and well-written book. The author's uncanny ability to make very difficult subjects accessible to the masses.2. A great topic in the "mind" of a great thinker.3. Great use of charts and diagrams.4. A wonderful job of describing how thinking works.5. Thought-provoking questions and answers based on a combination of sound science and educated speculation.6. The art of recreating brain processes in machines. "There is more parallel between brains and computers than may be apparent." Great stuff!7. Great information on how memories truly work.8. Hierarchies of units of functionality in natural systems.9. How the neocortex must work. The Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind (PRTM). The main thesis of this book. The importance of redundancy. Plenty of details.10. Evolution...it does a brain good. Legos will never be the same for me again.11. The neocortex as a great metaphor machine. Projects underway to simulate the human brain such as Markram's Blue Brain Project.12. Speech recognition and Markov models. Author provides a lot of excellent examples.13. The four key concepts of the universality and feasibility of computation and its applicability to our thinking.14. A fascinating look at split-brain patients. The "society of mind." The concept of free will, "We are apparently very eager to explain and rationalize our actions, even when we didn't actually make the decisions that led to them." Profound with many implications indeed.15. The issue of identity.16. The brain's ability to predict the future. The author's own predictive track record referenced.17. The laws of accelerating returns (LOAR), where it applies and why we should train ourselves to think exponentially.18. The author provides and analyzes objections to his thesis. In defense of his ideas. Going after Allen's "scientist's pessimism."19. The evolution of our knowledge.20. Great notes and links beautifully.

Negatives:1. The book is uneven. That is, some chapters cover certain topics with depth while others suffer from lack of depth. Some of it is understandable as it relates to the limitations of what we currently know but I feel that the book could have been reformatted into smaller chapters or subchapters. The book bogs down a little in the middle sections of the book.2. Technically I disagree with the notion that evolution always leads to more complexity. Yes on survival but not necessarily on complexity.3. The author has a tendency to cross-market his products a tad much. It may come across as look at me...4. A bit repetitive.5. Sometimes leaves you with more questions than answers but that may not be a bad thing...6. No formal separate bibliography.

In summary, overall I enjoyed this book. Regardless of your overall stance on the feasibility of artificial intelligence no one brings it like Ray Kurzweil. His enthusiasm and dedication is admirable. The author provides his basic thesis of how the brain works and a path to achieve true artificial intelligence and all that it implies. Fascinating in parts, bogs down in other sections but ultimately satisfying. I highly recommend it!

While I do not necessarily agree with Mr. Kurzweil's ideas and views nonetheless I am able to recognize and appreciate excellent work. The book is thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating. He has been called a futurist but that is such a vague term that may bring to mind several definitions. He is a futurist in the sense that he is predicting a particular line of technological development that will achieve A.I. equivalent to that of the biological human brain. His prediction, however, is based upon a thorough examination of how A.I. has developed over the decades that has lead to the current state of achievements of A.I., which is the basis for his projections, rather than prediction. He sees the goal of achieving strong A.I. as not being in the distant future but having achieved strong A.I. by 2029. This is an excellent book regardless of whether or not we like or wish for the future Mr. Kurzweil supports and is actively working towards.

I've read a lot of good reviews on this book. I thought it must be pretty darn good based on the reviews. Unless you are 100% left brained, this book does not read very well at all. It is not horrible, well maybe it is... If you are the type to pick up a dictionary and read it for hours, you will likely enjoy this book. If that is not you, then should probably pick a different book... Not sure what book the others that have reviewed this book have read, but this book is not an enjoyable read unless you are a psychology professional. If you are thinking this book is primarily about Artificial Intelligence, you may be disappointed.

In this boom Ray puts together how his knowledge of how the brain works helped in developing his technology a lot of us use daily. He deep dives into research done, as well as the why's of how things work. It is interesting to see the predictions he has made and his reason as to why they came true. He is a very smart man and the book for me was a good read. Although at some points I didn't fully understand what was being explained the majority of the book was so interesting it was hard for me to put down.

Wonderful read, very clear. Kurzweil has achieved confidence and articulation since earlier books, which were fantastic but a bit scattered and self-exploring. This was solid thought-provocation right in the kisser, especially his "everything is hierarchical patterns" grand unification theory. This stuff will change ya!

Some find his work overly optimistic / simplistic, thinking that reduces his credibility. Nay, the guy has very real acumen - OCR, Dragon Speak, now Google. His is applied science, implementing his hypotheses directly - the proof is in the pudding. Other criticisms are that this book doesn't illuminate AI implementation ("the title makes grand claims"). Well for that you'll need a text book friends, paperback won't cut it. This book is "Start here. History, core theories, inspiration, grand unification". If you're inspired, make "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" your next read.

This book was fascinating. Kurzweil describes his theory of the minds architecture in great detail, and then follows up by explaining how numerous experiments align with his theory. His descriptions are so clear that I was literally overcome with a desire to start writing some code to implement a small-scale project to try out some of the ideas. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a scientific background and some curiosity about their brain.